Heracles not Hercules
by Lumoa
Summary: Sometimes we all feel like we don't belong, but when you find out your parents are really gods...well that's a whole new story all together. The Hetalia cast in Disney's Hercules...with some adjustments of course. No genderbending. Main pairings include: Slight Spamano, USUK, and a lot of JapanxGreece later. Rated T for language.
1. Prologue

**A/N: [gets down on knees and apologizes] I am so sorry I haven't updated this in forever. I lost inspiration and I just couldn't do anything for it. Now that I have a little bit of inspiration back, I am kind of cringing at how this was written. **

**I feel as though I have grown as a writer since, and I want to rewrite this. I apologize to everyone who was hoping for progression in the story. Some things will change, and some things will remain the same. **

**This story has not been beta'd. All mistakes you see are mine and I apologize for them. I am considering getting a beta for this story. **

**Some Greek yyths will be placed into this story for fun, but generally we are sticking to the Disney 'Hercules' (but not exactly because that would be no fun). So you will see quite a few things that do not match up with actual Greek myths and legends.**

_Italics are for the narrator_

Regular text is for everything else

**I own nothing. This is simply a story for entertainment purposes. I make no money off of this. All rights to Hercules belong to Disney.**

**~HETALIA~**

_Long ago in the far away land of ancient Greece, there was an age of extraordinary strange gods and bumbling heroes. Possibly the oddest tale out of all these heroes, was the one of the mighty Hercules._

_But what is the measure of a true hero? That is where our story begins…_

"Like, would you just listen to that?"

"Feliks, shhh!"

"Toris, the author is, like, making this sound totally weird! How are people supposed to remain interested in the story?"

"Feliks it's not polite to interrupt…"

"Maybe we should take it from here, aru!"

_I beg your pardon. Exactly who are you?_

"Oh, we're the muses, aru," from the shadows stepped a Chinese man, wrapped in a red Grecian robe with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. By his side were two other men, one with blonde hair and a slightly shorter pink robe, and the other an embarrassed brunette wearing a blue robe.

"I am Yao," the man introduced himself, "and these two are Feliks and Toris."

_I see. But I thought there were five of you?_

"GODS DAMNIT ANTONIO I TOLD YOU WE WERE LATE!" A very angry brunette stormed in, fuming at the other light brown haired man who followed him. Both were wearing matching white robes with a slight hint of red around the edges.

"Eh? No! Lovi I am so sorry!" Antonio tried to fuss over Lovino, but was smacked away whenever he attempted to get close to the other man.

_Correct me if I am wrong…which I don't think I am…but none of you are Greek…_

"Not all of the gods are one nationality, aru!"

_But the legends state-_

"Those legends are, like, completely out of date! They even got the name wrong, it's Heracles, not Hercules!" Feliks poked out his lower lip in an obvious pout. "We can definitely tell this story the best! The true way it was meant to be told!"

"After all, we are the muses, gods of the arts and proclaimers of heroes. Who else better to tell this story than us?" Lovino sniffed.

_I suppose that does make sense…Very well. You go guys._

"So who wants to start?" Antonio asked.

All of the muses looked at each other, and a shiver ran through some of them.

"You tell the start of it all, Antonio. I never liked this part anyways. It's fucking creepy." Romano nudged his companion.

"Awww~ Lovi, there isn't anything to be afraid of!"

"Shut up bastard! I didn't say I was afraid! I just said it was fucking creepy!"

"Would you two, like, stop fighting and get on with it! I wanna get on to the good stuff!" Feliks rubbed his hands together excitedly.

Antonio shrugged in compliance and started speaking, "Now you see the story starts further back than Heracles's birth. It actually begins back when the world was new, these giant monsters called Titans ran around just completely messing up the world. It was pretty nasty." Antonio made a face.

"But then along came Alfred!" Feliks went on excitedly. "He hurled his thunderbolts at the monsters and managed to stop them from destroying the world!"

"He even managed to trap them in a vault deep within the earth." Toris said.

"And after that he brought some peace to the earth, which was very nice. We all needed a breather after dealing with the Titans for so long." Yao said.

_It's then I believe Heracles's story begins, on Mount Olympus, the home of the gods._

**~AND THAT'S THE GOSPEL TRUTH~**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I own nothing. This is simply a story for entertainment purposes. I make no money off of this. All rights to Hercules belong to Disney.**

**I'm not going to add to many details about the environment or the people (since most of you know what the characters look like). However if you wish for me to change this I will. **

**Also thank you ALL for reviewing and giving me suggestions on the characters. All of your lovely reviews made me so happy. For this chapter all you need to know is-**

**Alfred: Zeus, king of the gods**

**Arthur: Hera, queen of the gods**

**Feliciano: Hermes, god of thieves, messengers, etc. (Originally Im Yong Soo was supposed to be Hermes, but Feliciano won out after some deliberation)**

**Ludwig: Ares, god of war**

**Francis: Aphrodite, goddess of love**

**Séamus (Ireland OC): Dionysus, god of drinking. (I apologize for bringing an OC into this; he should be the last one you see. Honestly he won't be in this much, only a reference here or there. Since Gilbert already has a job, this guy was the best choice for Dionysus. I considered Latvia but his personality doesn't quite fit.)**

**Matthew: Poseidon, god of the oceans**

**Lethe: a river in the underworld that when drunken from, one would experience complete forgetfulness. Apparently there was a Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion that the river was named after.**

**And there are slight mentions of mpreg but only light mentions here and there.**

**~HETALIA~**

"No, Heracles don't pull on that!" Arthur struggled with the little baby in his arms, trying to pull his crown away from Heracles.

Little Heracles was the son of the king of the gods, Alfred, and his husband Arthur, technically the queen of the gods even though nobody called him that to his face. Even though Alfred received most of the credit for defeating the Titans, Arthur also had a large hand in defeating them, and nobody forgot that the shorter man could kick some major ass. So they kept any comments about Arthur being a queen (and his rather thick eyebrows) to themselves.

"What's our little ankle-biter doing now?" Alfred walked over to Arthur, his bright blue eyes sparkling with amusement. Arthur's green eyes glared maliciously back, and Alfred flinched away for a moment.

"You're son is misbehaving, Alfred." Arthur grunted as Heracles moved from pulling at Arthur's crown to grabbing his eyebrows.

"He isn't just my son, he's yours as well!" Alfred swooped in and gave Arthur a quick kiss, while at the same time taking the fussy baby from his arms. Arthur blushed a deep red and mumbled something along the lines of 'Idiot' but was smiling a little bit as he did so.

Heracles glanced up at his parents, watching them lightly bicker back and forth as he drooled.

"Ve~! Hey there Heracles!" Suddenly Heracles's view was blocked by a large, friendly, upside down face. Slightly frustrated at his blocked view, Heracles swatted at the face. Immediately his view was once again clear, but his mommy did not appear to be pleased with him.

"No Heracles!" Arthur scolded frantically. Heracles had just suddenly swatted at Feliciano, batting the messenger god a good twenty feet away.

"Haha! That's my boy! A strong hero just like his father!" Alfred laughed.

"Ve~ he is rather strong…" Feliciano fluttered back to the couple, rubbing his face where Heracles had hit him.

"I am so sorry Feliciano, are you alright?" Arthur asked.

"I'm fine! Just don't hurt me again little baby, alright?" Feliciano smiled hesitantly at Heracles, keeping a good distance away from the baby. Heracles giggled and farted.

Alfred sniffed and wrinkled his nose. Deciding Heracles had had enough of being held for now, he placed his son back into the cradle he had made before Heracles was born. Created out of clouds, it was one of the most comfortable cradles ever created, with slight gold filigree around the sides depicting Heracles's parents' kickass heroic moments to remind him just how awesome Alfred and Arthur were.

"Did you need something? Or did you just come over to say hello to Heracles?" Alfred asked Feliciano.

Feliciano cocked his head to the side, looking slightly confused before his expression cleared, "Oh that's right, I did come over here to tell you something!"

"What?"

"I, um, forgot…"

"Feliciano…" Arthur sighed, "You sure you weren't meant to be the god of Lethe or something?"

"Uh, no, I think somebody already has that covered." Feliciano smiled.

"Haven't you been using that new papyrus book I gave you to keep notes on your messages?"

"I lent it to Ludwig, so he could write down the names of certain generals who died on the losing side of wars to call upon them. He's almost as forgetful as me sometimes!"

"Do you at least remember who the message was from?" Arthur was beginning to look really pissed.

"Yes I do! It was Francis!"

"What does that idiot want now?" Arthur growled. He turned and looked out at the rest of the gods who were relaxing and enjoying the party to celebrate Heracles's birth. He furiously searched for the blonde pervert who had been the bane of his immortality ever since the fucking bastard had jumped out of the ocean completely naked.

"You are looking for me, mon chéri?" Arthur nearly jumped out of his toga when he heard the purr of words behind him.

"Yeah we were Francis! How did you know?" Alfred laughed.

"Ah, I was hoping little Feli would be able to deliver my message properly but I then I saw him get sidetracked by the buffet and I knew all hope was lost." Francis let out a mournful sigh.

"Sorry Francis!" Feliciano said sadly.

Francis smiled and patted his head, "It is alright Feli, why don't you go over to Ludwig and tell him about that delicious new dish you discovered?"

Feliciano perked up and nodded delightedly, immediately rushing off to find the war god. Francis watched him fly over the crowd, chuckling softly when Feliciano spotted the god of war and darted down to grab him in a hug. It was strange to see Ludwig, who was normally a threatening figure, caught off guard by the small, hyperactive Feliciano. Plus Francis thought it was funny to watch Ludwig's face color a deep red whenever Feliciano spontaneously hugged him.

"That is a pairing I don't think I have to work my magic on," Francis smirked to himself.

"Whazat Francis?" Alfred gave Francis a puzzled look, which Francis waved off.

"It is nothing."

Arthur was still glaring daggers at Francis, which the god of love soon became aware of. He flicked his hair back and attempted to give Arthur a charming smile, but Arthur's scowl only deepened. Ah, it appeared that Francis was still not forgiven for the little grope session he had initiated with Arthur yesterday. It had all been in good fun of course but Arthur had been a little moody after Heracles was born. Maybe he hadn't been getting enough sleep, or maybe-

"Arthur, have you and Alfred been having sex lately?"

Alfred and Arthur's reactions were answer enough. They both sputtered and looked adorably embarrassed.

"I think that should be my present. Perhaps I can take Heracles off your hands for a while so that you two can get reacquainted with each other~" Francis said.

Arthur was sputtering intelligible words and might have ended up sending Francis down to Tartarus if Alfred hadn't held him back.

"That actually reminds me," Francis continued on, staying out of Arthur's reach, "I wanted to know- what gift did you two decide to give Heracles?"

"We're his parents! We gave him the gift of life you git!" Arthur snarled. But Francis's question made Alfred suddenly stop and think. Noticing a lack of repressing force stopping him from murdering Francis, Arthur turned around to see what had caught Alfred's attention.

"You know, that is a good question. I think we need to give Heracles a gift."

"We already gave him your medallion." Arthur, now suitably distracted, reached down into the cradle to touch the golden medallion that had been placed around Heracles's neck. Impressed upon the gold was an image of the Earth from high in the cosmos. It was a brilliant view, one that regular mortals would probably never see. But as the gods, they could step back and observe the world from high above, viewing the blue globe. Engraved on the back was Hercules's name.

"Yeah, but I want to give him something else, something that won't remain in a dinky treasure chest when he gets older."

"Like what?" Arthur asked. Alfred scratched his chin, pondering. Then, his eyes lit up and he spun around, looking about him.

Alfred reached his hands out and grabbed a puff of cloud. Placing it into his hand, he reached out again and grabbed a few more puffs, adding them onto what was in his hand. Then, Alfred twisted the clouds into a shape and released a bolt of lightning through the shape. He swung around and presented it to Arthur, "I call him, Corporal Cat."

Arthur looked at the creature, and then gave Alfred a weird look, "You gave a cat wings."

"Awwww, come on Artie. It's cute isn't it?" Alfred lowered the winged cat down into the cradle with Heracles. Heracles booped it on the nose, causing the cloud puffs to fall away from the creature's form. The cat was pure white, with feathery wings attached to its back. Corporal Cat blinked and sniffed hesitantly at the little child squirming within the cradle. Carefully, he spread his wings and fluttered up from Alfred's hands, only to crash down into the cradle. Apparently his wings weren't strong enough to hold him up for long.

Heracles took warmly to the little cat though. Even though he was surprised at the new roommate in his crib, Heracles cuddled up calmly to Corporal Cat and promptly fell asleep.

"How adorable!" Alfred leaned in to get a better view.

"I've noticed your son seems to sleep quite a lot…" Francis noted.

"He's a baby, other than pooping and crying that's pretty much all he does!" Arthur snorted. Francis shrugged his shoulders, not agreeing or disagreeing.

"Sleep tight Heracles," Alfred smiled softly and kissed Heracles's forehead gently.

"How sentimental," A sneering voice broke the three gods out of their comfortable haze. Francis felt an uncomfortable shiver break over his body. They turned to see a dark shadow lurking near one of the pillars. "I don't think I've been this choked up since I got a piece of simit stuck in my throat."

"Sadiq!" Alfred recognized the death god first, "I'm glad you could finally make it!" Apparently he was the only one. Arthur drew back, almost protectively, against Heracles's cradle. Francis muttered something about being somewhere else to be and vanished. The rest of the gods gathered around became hushed, and spoke in hasty whispers to each other, glancing nervously at Sadiq. "Tell me, how are things in the underworld?"

"Dark, gloomy, smells awful, like always." Sadiq grimaced. He looked around the room until his eyes fell upon Arthur and the crib he was standing by. "So here's the little tyke, huh?" He swept over, his dark eyes looking down menacingly from behind the stark white mask made of bone. Arthur gripped the side of the cradle tightly, deeply agitated by Sadiq's appearance.

"He's a cutie! You sure he's yours Alfred?" Sadiq asked jovially.

Arthur gritted his teeth, "He's definitely Alfred's son."

"Looks nothing like the guy, but hey, I'm not an expert! Party looks great by the way! Sorry I wasn't able to make it earlier but you know, dealing with the dead is a round the clock job."

Arthur attempted to ignore the backhanded insults and turned away from Sadiq. The death god noticed Arthur's tense form and smirked to himself. He leaned in closer to Heracles, hoping to piss Arthur off just a little bit more.

The plan backfired, Heracles, in his sleep, kicked out and smacked Sadiq in the nose. The dark skinned man hissed and shrank back. His mask had cracked and he was furiously attempting to hold it together. Arthur snickered.

"Sorry about that Sadiq! Little Heracles doesn't know his own strength yet!" Alfred apologized. Sadiq nodded, but backed away from the baby. Barely five minutes in the kid's presence and Sadiq already hated him.

"Let me get you a drink! I'm pretty sure Séamus has outdone himself on the alcohol this time!" Alfred grinned and slapped Sadiq on the back.

"Classy. Alcohol at a baby's party," Sadiq muttered, "But I can't stay. I only came to see the little bundle of joy and offer you my…congratulations." He said to Alfred. Alfred looked slightly downtrodden to see Sadiq go, but allowed him to leave without complaint. Sadiq didn't seem to enjoy being around everyone that much anymore. Ever since he had taken over the underworld, well, since Alfred kind of made him take over the underworld-Sadiq hadn't been friendly towards anyone. Alfred still winced at the memory of the awful fight he, Mattie, and Sadiq had had when it came time to split up the three great powers.- Sadiq hadn't been friendly towards anyone. But for the moment he shrugged off his worries and went over to talk to Séamus about getting some of his special wine.

Meanwhile, Sadiq watched the party continue from the shadows. The fools didn't even know he was still there. Arthur had relaxed, and was chatting with some of the other gods who had come to pay their respects to the little brat. Sadiq felt a cold anger wash over his body as he observed Heracles. He hadn't been happy being sent to the underworld all those years ago, and it didn't look like his position was going to change anytime soon. His plan…this child could be a major issue in his plan.

"Sleep well, while you still can little Heracles."

**~HETALIA~**

**A/N: Sorry for the long author notes but sometimes there will be some Greek stuff I want to fill you guys in on so that you don't get too confused in case you don't know much of this stuff.**

**The Greeks did know about papyrus from the Egyptians and used it. They also used hides, vellum, slate or wax tablets for writing purposes. **

**I am a fan of the Percy Jackson series, and I liked the idea that the warriors who had fallen in battle and were on the losing side were indebted to Ares so I used it.**

**Aphrodite is an interesting goddess. According to legend she was born when Uranus's genitals (Uranus is essentially the sky) were cut off and fell into the ocean. Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam as a fully grown woman. So technically, as the daughter of the sky and not of one of the children of the Titans as most of the gods were (or they were born from another god or goddess or they were the product of something weird one of the gods did), Aphrodite is kind of a Titan. **

**Yes, Francis spoke in French. If the Disney version can make modern day jokes in their version then I can use a little bit of French in mine. I'm cheating. **

**And also I apologize for once again making Hades the bad guy. After learning more about him he's actually one of the best behaved gods in Greek mythology. But as I said, we're going along the plotlines of the Disney version and having Sadiq as the Hades to Heracles's Hercules was too good to pass up. I'll try my best to get his personality correct.**

**Tartarus is generally referred to as the place where the Titans are housed in the Underworld. **

**After much deliberation I decided to go with the name Corporal Cat for Heracles's winged cat. I struggled, debating whether or not to make a nation the winged cat, or to give it a silly name. But eventually I chose the name of the one cat Greece bothered to name in the series. It's slightly silly but I like to think that cat is something special since Greece actually named it. The actual canon corporal cat is a different color than in this fic but I went with pure white since that's what Pegasus looked like.**

**Simit is a type of Turkish bread that is circular and has sesame seeds on it.**

**Thanks to Tourmalice for pointing out some of the mistakes I made!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: All the names used are the official names given to the characters, or at least the popular fan names for the characters. I realize some people use Sadik instead of Sadiq but I just decided to go with the alternate spelling. TRNC is actually a legitimate character. He's a small country only recognized by Turkey. Because of this he is loyal to Turkey and hates anyone who is mean to him, meaning Greece. His character is described as being stern and quiet, with a monotone speaking voice.**

**Sadiq: Hades, the god of the underworld**

**Gupta (Egypt): Hades minion **

**Emir (Turkish Republic or Northern Cyprus or TRNC): Hades minion (TRNC has no official name that I could find so I used one of the most popular Turkish boy names. If TRNC gains an official name then I will change it)**

**Matthias (Denmark), Emil (Iceland), Lukas (Norway): The three Fates **

**Rated T for some bad language that I hope all of you lovelies can handle.**

**~HETALIA~**

Mount Olympus is known for being incredibly beautiful, with white marble Grecian buildings glowing in the light of the sun. Clouds would drift across the numerous gardens lazily while the gods and the nymphs took care of the flowers that bloomed within them. Fountains with water clear as glass gurgled at all hours, and it rarely ever stormed there unless the gods wanted it to. Anyone who was fortunate to visit there agreed that it was truly the most beautiful place that they had ever seen.

What was little talked about though, was how beautiful the Underworld could be. Certainly it hadn't been breath taking at the start, but then again, neither had Mount Olympus. The homes of the gods had to be built after the war of the Titans. The Underworld had only been a housing place for the souls of the dead, an ugly jumbled mess of good souls and bad souls before Sadiq had been assigned to take over.

Now the Underworld's beauty wasn't the light, airy kind that Mount Olympus had. It was dark, and sharp, the kind of beauty that fascinated and scared a person. Glittering gems were encrusted into the walls, and they shone with what little light they had. The buildings were twisted, made from the rivers of magma that ran deep in the earth's core that had been forced into shapes and then cooled. The only places where plants grew were in the Asphodel fields and in Sadiq's garden which he kept under rigorous watch in case anyone attempted to steal from it. Small candles lit the paths that curved throughout Sadiq's kingdom, and if one listened very carefully, they could almost hear the soft sounds of the waters in the rivers of the Underworld moving slowly in their riverbeds.

It was this place that Sadiq had built, desperate to make some sort of home among the dead.

"Gupta!" Sadiq shouted as he marched down the richly decorated halls in his palace, "Emir!" He stopped and looked around, snarling furiously.

"Gupta! Emir! Come here this instant!"

The sound of rapid footsteps echoed throughout the chamber. A little boy with tanned skin followed by a man with equally dark skin ran into the chamber, halting suddenly when they spied Sadiq.

"You do realize you need only bellow once, my lord," the man, Gupta, bowed low.

"Your voice rings loudly throughout the palace," Emir also gave a quick, little bow. Sadiq scowled at both of them, deeply displeased by their sass. Why Sadiq bothered to keep them around, nobody understood. He showed a weird fondness for the two of them that seemed unlike the god of the dead most people had come to know and fear.

When neither Gupta nor Emir bothered apologizing for their sass, Sadiq rolled his eyes and turned away, "I merely wish to know when the Fates arrive. I'll be in my room waiting for their arrival."

The painful silence that followed his words made Sadiq pause, he turned back around to see Gupta and Emir looking at each other and wincing uncomfortably. "What?" Sadiq asked.

"Well, you see, actually while you were away," Gupta began nervously, "the Fates, they've-"

"Arrived," a bored voice sounded behind Gupta, "We've actually been waiting for you for quite a while."

Three figures descended down the stairs. Each one wore a long black and red robe that draped to the floor with a long hood to cover their faces. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they stopped, and together threw back their hoods. Two pairs of empty eye sockets stared back at Sadiq, while the third pair held a single bright blue eye.

"Lukas, Emil, Matthias, why in my realm didn't you fuckers tell me you were arriving early!" Sadiq laughed uncomfortably.

The Fates were three of the oldest known entities, they even predated the gods. They normally kept to themselves unless called upon. The only time they had bothered coming uncalled had been when the gods were planning their war upon the Titans. That had been the last time Sadiq had seen the Fates, and even then they had talked only with Alfred and Arthur for a few hours before disappearing again.

"Well we wanted a little bit of a surprise, since, you know, it's so hard to get any surprises in our life." Matthias, the tallest one reached down and tapped the eye inside of Lukas's head. The shorter Fate slapped Matthias's hand away.

"Yeah, I know, the Fates, the ones who hold the knowledge of all that was and is to come and all that shit," Sadiq said.

"Things do get a little dull after a while, although I see you're planning on shaking things up a bit!" Matthias grinned toothily.

"I don't think that's something you should be happy about you idiot." Lukas snapped.

Emil reached over and grabbed the eye, taking it out of Lukas's eye socket. He popped it in his own head and the eye swiveled to look at Sadiq. "I agree with Matthias, Lukas. Things have become too comfortable since the war with the Titans finished."

"Call me big brother, Emil."

"No."

"Come on, just this once."

"I said no, _Lukas_."

Lukas frowned and opened his mouth to retort but Sadiq had lost his patience. "Stop! Just stop! I didn't call you three here just to listen to you talk!"

"Oh we know." Matthias smirked.

"I know you know!" Sadiq slapped his hand to his face. "Ok, alright. Look, Alfred, Mr. High and mighty has-"

"A sleepy, little baby," the Fates said in unison, "We know."

"I KNOW!" Sadiq shouted, "I just need to know whether or not this brat is going to mess up my plans!"

Matthias, Emil, and Lukas all seemed to shift uncomfortably. Their bodies swiveled around and they began to whisper to each other in hushed tones. Sadiq stood behind them, feeling more and more pissed off as the seconds passed. He couldn't make out much of what they said except for 'Shouldn't talk' and 'Future isn't' and 'Shut up Matthias'.

Eventually they all fell quiet, and turned back to face Sadiq. Matthias was the only one grinning, while Lukas and Emil held much more serious expressions on their faces. Matthias took the eyeball from Emil and tossed it up into the air once, twice, and finally a third time. It began to glow brightly, and slowly images became visible in the white light.

"In eighteen years, the planets will align. The time to unleash the Titans will be at hand, and by your power alone can they be released." Matthias said.

"Alfred will be unable to defeat them again, and Mount Olympus will fall." Lukas spoke up.

"Yes!" Sadiq crowed.

However Emil held up his hand, "A word of caution, Sadiq. If Heracles fights in this war, you will fail in your conquest."

"What? That brat? Then what must I do to ensure my victory?" Sadiq furiously questioned them. The three Fates merely shrugged, ignoring his question. Sadiq opened his mouth, intending to argue with them, but within the next moment they had disappeared, leaving behind an angry Sadiq and a nervous Gupta and Emir.

"Damn them!" Sadiq shouted. He furiously began to pace back and forth. An idea had formed quickly in his mind when Emil had mentioned Heracles. Sadiq already knew that brat had to be taken care of, the sooner the better. Heracles posed a threat to his plans, he had since the moment he was born.

Sadiq stopped his pacing and looked toward Gupta and Emir. Both of his servants stood at attention and waited for their orders.

"Gupta, go fetch the potion. You know the one." Gupta looked slightly upset at the order, but went to do as Sadiq asked. Emir watched him go curiously, not understanding what Sadiq had asked for.

"Sir, what was it you asked Gupta to go get?" Emir asked. Sadiq looked down at the short, olive skinned boy. His tense posture relaxed.

"I told him to go get _that _potion. It doesn't have a name, probably because there are so few that almost no one knows of them," Sadiq moved his gaze to stare out of a window that revealed a nice view of the small garden with the few plants that would grow in the Underworld. "It's a potion that makes mortals who drink it so weak that they can no longer move."

"But how are you going to use it to defeat Heracles?"

Sadiq was silent, but a dark grin slowly crept over his face. Emir wanted to question him again, but stopped as he heard Gupta's footsteps coming back towards them. Gupta entered the room and presented a small, dark pink potion to Sadiq. Sadiq glanced at it, but didn't take it.

"I want you two to take Heracles and give it to him. You know what to do after he drinks the last drop."

Gupta nodded, and waited until Sadiq had walked out to frown unhappily. Emir was still confused and he went over to Gupta and tugged on his robe to get his attention. "Gupta, why does Sadiq want us to give Heracles that potion?"

"Didn't he explain to you what it does?" Gupta asked.

"He only said that it made mortals weak. But Heracles is a god, right?"

Gupta sighed, "It makes the strongest mortals weak to the point of death. But for a god," Gupta paused, "for a god it makes them mortal."

Emir thought over this and then said, "So we're making Heracles a mortal? Why?"

"Because you can't kill a god, but you can easily kill a mortal."

**~HETALIA~**

**A/N: I kind of built my own idea of the Underworld that I thought Sadiq would prefer. In Greek mythology it's describe not as a terrible place, but still a dark and gloomy world that spirits would fade into. I've seen and read several different renditions of what a Greek mythological Underworld would be like and I kind of picked them apart and put my favorite ideas from each into the Underworld I created for Sadiq. It always seemed kind of confusing to me when they spoke about the Underworld like it was a barren wasteland, and yet there are the Asphodel fields (where the souls of people who lived regular lives would go) and several times fruits of the Underworld are mentioned (particularly in Persephone's story). **

**Sadiq's relationship with Gupta and Emir has a lot more to it than master and servants. I'm hoping to get into their story more later on, but if it doesn't work in the main storyline I will probably put it off to the side as a one-shot. For now let's just say he cares for them a lot more than he shows other people.**

**And I am sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I wanted to get it out last week but had to completely wipe my computer because of a virus. **

**Tourmalice told me there were some grammatical issues with my first chapter and I will try to fix them, a big thank you for pointing them out. This is an unbeta'd story so if there are any problems that you see please don't hesitate to point them out to me. **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: [hugs you all] Thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews! I am so sorry I wasn't able to reply to anybody this time, I will try harder to keep up with replies. Also I apologize if Berwald's speech pattern is off. I have no idea how to write it.**

**Elizabeta (Hungary): Artemis**

**Roderich (Austria): Apollo**

**Tino (Finland): Heracles's adopted mortal father**

**Berwald (Sweden): Heracles's other adopted mortal father**

_Italics_** mean that the narrator is speaking.**

**~HETALIA~**

Gupta and Emir watched silently as Roderich's golden chariot to descend from the sky, allowing Elizabeta to pull her silver chariot to where his once sat. The curtain of night fell over Mount Olympus and one by one, the torches lighting the buildings were extinguished.

Gupta and Emir waited another hour to be sure everyone had fallen asleep. Once everything was all clear, they quickly made their way into the heart of Mount Olympus where Sadiq had said Heracles slept. He had been placed into a nursery adjacent to his parents pavilion.

The two minions crept up silently to the crib Heracles was lying in. Two sets of snores came from within it. The cat that had been gifted to the little baby was in the crib with Heracles, cuddling up closely to the small god. Gupta glanced at Emir and nodded. Emir reached forward and grabbed Corporal Cat, flinging him off the pavilion as fast as he could. The cat didn't even have a chance to make a sound as it dropped out of sight. However it wouldn't buy them much time. Gupta grabbed Heracles and placed his hand over Heracles's mouth to prevent the baby from making a loud noise.

Corporal Cat, flying as fast as his little wings could take it, moved back into the room, looking back and forth for its master. Seeing the crib empty, he let out a loud "MRRROWW!"

In the pavilion opposite to the nursery, Alfred and Arthur woke up with a start. The loud noise from Corporal Cat continued and Arthur gasped, "The baby!"

They ran to the nursery, but it was too late. Gupta and Emir had vanished into the shadows, already a good ways away from Mount Olympus.

"No!" Alfred shouted, looking around in a panic. Arthur fell to his knees, looking lost, his eyes filling up with tears. Alfred growled, and lighting lit up the sky. "EVERYONE AWAKEN!" He bellowed. They had to find Heracles. Before something awful happened.

Away from the grieving rulers, Gupta and Emir ran fast, flitting in and out of shadows. They could hear the sounds of every single god and goddess on Mount Olympus awakening to find out that their prince was gone.

"You think this is a good place to stop?" Emir gasped. Gupta looked around, they had stopped at the base of a small mountain underneath a small, withering tree. There was no way they could outrun all the gods. Killing the kid here would be good.

Emir brought out the dark, pink potion. Popping a nipple onto it, he carefully placed it into Heracles's mouth. Heracles, slightly confused after being woken up so suddenly, sucked down the liquid slowly. They watched anxiously as the potion was drained. But as Heracles was about to drink the last drop, Gupta suddenly popped it out of his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Emir hissed.

"I don't know, it's just...are you sure we should be doing this?"

"Sadiq told us to!"

"Yes, I know! But is this honestly what he really wants?"

Emir opened, and then closed his mouth. He looked as torn as Gupta did. Neither of them truly wanted to kill the child, but Sadiq had ordered them to.

Their moment of hesitation cost them. A voice suddenly called out from the darkness, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Gupta started, dropping the glass container to the ground. The last drop of the potion fell out among the shards before their eyes, and hissed as it hit the ground.

"You sure you heard somethin' Tino?"

"I'm sure I heard something! Over here!" A light bobbed in the darkness. Two men made their way around the rocks, the larger one helping the smaller one over the rough terrain.

When the shorter man looked up, he gasped. Sitting there alone in the darkness was a baby! A tiny little boy with dark brown hair and large green eyes staring at them. The baby hiccupped, and then started wailing loudly. "Oh, Berwald, look at him!" The shorter man cried.

"Tino b'careful." Berwald looked around suspiciously, holding up his torch higher to get a good look around.

"You poor thing," Tino cooed.

"Anyone there?" Berwald called. No one responded. "Perhap' he's an orphan." Berwald told Tino.

"Do you think he's a gift from the gods?" Tino asked softly, "We've been praying to them for so long to deliver us a child since we can't have one of our own."

"I don' know." Berwald looked at the baby in Tino's arms, "That's a fancy medallion he has..."

"Wow, it's beautiful." Tino observed it, "I wonder what that round thing stamped on it is."

"Dunno," Berwald picked up the piece of gold around the child's neck and flipped it around. On the other side, written with a flourish was the word 'Heracles'. "Heracles, ye think this is 'is name?"

"Probably," Tino said, "It's a lovely name. Fits him, don't you think?"

"Mmm," Berwald grunted his agreement.

Unknown to the couple, Gupta and Emir were having a fierce, whispered argument. Gupta was in favor of just leaving the kid with the couple, Heracles was mortal enough and would surely die before causing any problems for Sadiq. But Emir insisted that they had to get rid of the kid now, while they still had the chance. In the end, Emir won.

Gupta and Emir allowed their bodies to morph, changing into two black snakes. They slithered their way up the tree, keeping close to the shadows. Tino and Berwald lay unsuspecting beneath the tree, still talking about Heracles.

They struck, leaping down to bite the infant Heracles. Tino cried out, accidentally dropping Heracles to the ground. Berwald rushed forward to defend his spouse and the baby, only to stop in shock. Heracles had grabbed both of the snakes, on in each hand, and was giggling. He bashed the snakes against the ground, and then playfully began to swing them back and forth. Gupta and Emir were beginning to feel sick. Heracles laughed one more time before tossing them away from him, only they flew a lot farther than expected. Tino and Berwald watched as the two black snakes flew out over the terrain, flying so far that they could no longer see them, as they had been swallowed up by the darkness of the night.

Heracles giggled and grabbed his toes, gurgling baby talk.

Far away, Gupta and Emir were stumbling around, once again looking like humans. Gupta leaned against a rock, trying desperately not to be sick.

"Okay, so the kid isn't completely mortal then." Gupta sighed.

"You think?" Emir said.

"Sadiq is going to kill us, and then use our souls as chew toys for Blackie, Berlitz, and Aster."

"I still question why Sadiq allowed that stupid war god to name each of Cerberus's heads." Emir scowled, "And besides, it was your fault that kid didn't drink the last drop!"

"I know! But we don't have to tell Sadiq that! He'll just punish us both in the end anyways!" Gupta said. Emir frowned, but unfortunately he had to agree with Gupta. "If we tell Sadiq that we failed to kill the kid he's going to kill us!"

"...IF we tell him." Emir said quietly.

"IF?"

"If. He doesn't need to know that the kid isn't dead. You said it yourself, mortals have a low life expectancy. There's no way Heracles will live past the age of ten," Emir said.

"If...if is good." Gupta said slowly.

**~HETALIA~**

"Alfred sent out every single god and goddess to find his son, aru." Yao said.

"But in the end it was too late." Toris sighed, "By the time the gods had found Heracles, he was mortal."

"It's, like, super tragic!" Feliks cried, "Alfred and Arthur grieved for weeks! They could only, like, watch over him! Who made the stupid rule that mortals couldn't live in Mount Olympus anyways?" He huffed.

"You dipshit, Alfred made that rule. Having mortals living in Mount Olympus would just cause a damn ruckus." Romano said.

All the muses sighed and looked put out.

"It kind of sucks that little Heracles grew up not knowing his birth parents." Antonio said.

"Yeah, but Tino and Berwald were certainly a great set of parents also," Yao smiled, "They took good care of him, and helped him to grow into a good young man. I don't know how they dealt with his superstrength, aru."

"Well it wasn't easy, remember that problem at the market?" Toris reminded him. Everyone grimaced.

"That was really unpleasant." Romano scowled, "Stupid idiot almost killed everyone!"

"Now that I think about it, wasn't that where Heracles story really began?" Toris asked.

"It was, like, certainly what started him down the road to greatness."

_Perhaps we should restart our story there then. If I am correct, Heracles was about sixteen._

"Hey, shhh!" Feliks waved his arms back and forth, "You said we could tell the story!"

_Yes I did. Go ahead and start the next chapter in Heracles's story._

**~HETALIA~**

**A/N 1: For the sake of the story and keeping slightly to the Disney version we are ignoring the fact that Apollo and Artemis were the children of Zeus and a mortal woman named Leto. **

**Apollo is widely known as the god of the sun. He rides his golden chariot up into the sky (the sun rising) and then allows it to descend (the sunset). He's actually one of the more complex Greek gods, with a lot of other attributes like music, healer, prophecy, etc. **

**Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo. You might have heard her under the name Diana, as many women back in time often compared themselves to the goddess Diana (although strangely enough most of these women were in fact not chaste virgins as Diana herself and her women followers were, but rather more commonly mistresses to kings who enjoyed calling them that name). Artemis was more popularly known as the goddess of the hunt and the moon (Apollo's twin sister after all).**

**Tino and Berwald are Heracles's adopted parents. They've always held that role, even in the old story. I assume that the ancient Greeks had no idea what the planet they lived on looked like from space (although the gods do because, well, they're gods) so they don't exactly know what is on Heracles's medallion. **

**Cerberus is the three headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld. He's said to only prefer live meat, which is why he doesn't attack the souls. Gupta and Emir have nothing to fear from him if they're dead. Cerberus is one of the children of Echidna, the mother of monsters. In the Heracles movie, Cerberus is shown to be a gigantic black dog with three heads. In other forms of art and media, he is sometimes much smaller, more around the size of a real life large dog. In this story just assume he's about the same size as he is in the movie. Turkey doesn't have any pets in the anime or manga (except, apparently, a horse he talks to about war but that wasn't going to work). So I just used Germany's three pet dogs and mashed them together to make Cerberus...sorry Germany...**

**A/N 2: I edited the first chapter. Thank you Tourmalice for helping with some of the issues. (I forgot to write in that Heracles's name was on the back of the medallion, but I fixed it)**

**A/N 3: I realize my Greek mythology needs a little bit of updating and I'm probably not as knowledgeable about it as I should be. I invite all of you to send me little things about the gods that you would like added to this little author notes. If I have skipped over something I should have mentioned, please tell me because I love hearing about party of mythology I haven't really gotten to know yet. If you think the authors notes are to long I am sorry about that. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Oh gods, ****I don't know whether to be delighted or worried that I have a bunch of people who are really into mythology reading my story. I'm a big fan of Greek Myths but I'm no expert and I have never taken a class on it so again I apologize for any incorrect information in my author notes. **

**Oh, and just to make it clear, this is going off the Disney Hercules movie, which means that Kiku (Meg) will not die and Heracles is the son of Arthur (Hera). **

**Discus Throwing: A old sport that involves competitors throwing a heavy disc (essentially a frisbee) as far as they can.**

**Ladon (Ladonia): The owner of the pottery shop**

* * *

The years passed by, and Heracles grew up strong and healthy. His superhuman strength never waned, which made raising him a little difficult. When little Heracles threw a fit, which luckily did not happen often, the whole house shook. When Berwald tried to teach Heracles some sports, like discus throwing, but Heracles always threw to hard, which sometimes ended up with the discs embedded into the ground where they had landed. Tino attempted to teach Heracles to cook, but he would always either fall asleep half way through the task, or break all of their dishes with his monster strength.

But all in all, it was okay. Tino and Berwald smothered Heracles with affection, and Heracles grew up knowing the warmth and care of a loving family. He became kind and friendly, albeit he was often lazy and spent most of his days napping under the warmth of the sun. Heracles supposed he was quite lucky, for the sun often shone for him when he wanted to nap outside. At night the stars and moon lit his path clearly and he never seemed to have any trouble with the wild animals that paraded around in the woods near his home. Tino often said that Heracles was blessed by the gods with good fortune.

The only problem was Heracles grew up far away from other people. Tino and Berwald, after learning that their adopted son's monumental strength caused murmurs of discontent and sometimes fear among the neighbors, had left their old home in favor of living out in the countryside. There Heracles was free to be himself, and do things like lifting their house when one of his toys fell in the cracks on the floorboards.

Now while Tino and Berwald often stayed close to home, Berwald was a woodcarver and made lovely pieces of furniture and sometimes small toys that he sold at the market twice every month. When Heracles was younger, he wasn't allowed to go with Berwald to the market. His father continuously refused little Heracles's pleas to take him to the village. It wasn't that Heracles really enjoyed being in the village. The few times he had gone as a little child, mainly during large celebrations or to visit temples, he had felt uncomfortable with the large amounts of noisy people. But he also didn't like not getting to see his father when he was away. So Berwald permitted Heracles to come along with him once and awhile, provided that he didn't get into any trouble.

Each trip had, of course, ended in disaster. The first time, Heracles was about nine years old and threw a small discus he found into the wall of the pottery shop, resulting in several shelves of broken vases and a confused shopkeeper. Berwald brushed it off, hustling Heracles away from the scene before anyone could figure out who or what could have done such damage. When Heracles was eleven he broke several large stone statues outside for sale after tipping them over when using them as stepping stools to get up to a clever little kitten who had trapped itself on a ledge. At the age of thirteen he had become slightly more careful. But when another boy made Heracles upset he left a fist shaped mark on the wall next to the boy's face.

By this time Berwald thought it was a good time to have a talk with Heracles.

"But Daaaaad," Heracles complained, "he was being a jerk!" Berwald shook his head sadly as he lead Heracles away from the scene where the other kids parents were beginning to gather them up.

" Y' should 'ave known better. It isn't right t' hurt others." Berwald scolded him. Heracles's shoulders slumped and a small amount of tears began to gather in his eyes. Berwald sighed and stopped them beneath the shade of a tall tree. He kneeled down and placed his hands upon Heracles's shoulders, "Heracles, now what's this really 'bout?"

Heracles looked down at the ground, refusing to meet his father's gaze. Berwald gently raised Heracles's face so that they were looking at each other. Berwald was surprised to see tears rapidly making their way down Heracles's face.

"He kept saying that I was cursed, and that I brought misfortune to the village every time I visited," Heracles hiccupped, frantically trying to brush away his tears.

"No, y'aren't cursed, y'er beloved by t' gods," Berwald said softly.

"If that's true, then why am I so different from everyone else?"

"I don' know," Berwald admitted. More tears began to spill down Heracles's cheeks and he quickly added, "But 'm sure one day y'll figur' it out, and y'll protect a lot of people wi't yer strength."

"You think I can make people happy with my strength?" Berwald nodded and Heracles smiled shakily.

"Y'jus gotta figur' out how to control yer self," Berwald ruffled Heracles's hair and smiled warmly. "People will 'ventually b'gin to 'ccept ye." Heracles nodded, but Berwald could see that he still didn't quite understand what Berwald had meant. Well, he was still young. There was plenty of time for Heracles to learn.

* * *

"Heracles...Heracles c'mon, wake up," Berwald instructed.

"...Hmm?" Heracles blinked his eyes open lazily. Sleep was weighing heavy on him. Heracles stretched his legs and arms outwards, feeling a little stiff after the long cart ride down to the village.

It had been four years since Berwald had talked to Heracles after the incident with the other boy. Unfortunately the issues with Heracles's strength hadn't stopped, and neither had the rumors about him being cursed. Everyone understood Heracles was different, but even when the presence was set right before them they still didn't quite understand him and his super strength.

Berwald stopped the wagon and jumped down, "M'gonna grab some water fer the donkey. Stay here an' watch th' cart," he instructed Heracles. Heracles yawned and nodded, watching his father walk off. At the age of seventeen Heracles hadn't changed that much. He was still lanky, although he had grown much taller he still wasn't as tall as Berwald. He had allowed his brown hair to grow out past his ears and Heracles's green eyes were often hooded with sleepiness. Other than his parents, Heracles didn't interact with other people a lot. He preferred to keep company with quieter things...like cats, cats were nice, Heracles thought lazily.

The heat beat down on Heracles and despite his father's instructions, Heracles could feel himself slipping off back into sleep. It wasn't like anyone could steal the heavy pieces of furniture in the back anyways...

Suddenly, something hit Heracles in the side of the head and he jerked awake. Looking down confusedly, he saw the culprit of disturbing his sleep; a disc was laying on the ground a few feet away. Heracles got up, bent down and picked it up, rubbing at the sore spot on his head. He heard footsteps rapidly coming his way and a voice called out, "Hey throw it back!"

He turned around and the other person froze. Heracles had seen the other guy a few times when he had come to the market with Berwald, but he couldn't remember his name.

"Oh, h-hey Heracles!" The guy stuttered. Heracles prepared to toss him the disc back, but when he saw Heracles moving his arm back the other teenager shouted, "No!" Heracles looked at him puzzled.

"I mean- just here, give it to me!" He hurriedly grabbed the disc out of Heracles's hand. Before Heracles could say anything else, the guy was running away as fast as he could back to one of his friends. They both glanced back at Heracles, and began whispering to each other frantically. Then they snickered and ran off to rejoin their group.

Heracles sighed, he didn't have to guess what they had been talking about. Not that he really cared, but a small stinging sensation lodged itself in his heart and refused to leave. He walked back to the cart sadly, keeping his head down and not looking anyone else in the eye.

"Oh, no nonono!" Someone's shouting caught Heracles's attention. He looked up to see a man struggling with a large decorative vase. Just as it was about to tip over, Heracles swooped over and lifted up the other edge easily.

"Oh thank you! Thank you Herac...Heracles!" The man jerked back, dislodging Heracles's hands from the vase. Heracles recognized him as the owner of the pottery shop, Ladon. His bright red hair was ruffled and slightly damp from the sweat caused by the heat. His bright blue eyes were glittering nervously at Heracles.

"Wait it's going to fall!"

"No, no it's fine now! I've got it, thank you!" Ladon quickly shuffled away from Heracles.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Ladon was practically running now. He disappeared into his shop and pulled at the curtain door, hiding him from view.

Heracles looked around, embarrassed. Slowly he drifted away towards the cart, everyone scuttling away from him as he moved forwards. The conversation Berwald and Heracles had had when he was thirteen was strong in his mind. His father had said that one day people would accept Heracles for who he was. But so far, everyone just hated him.

Heracles was about to sit down on the cart when he heard someone shout, "Heads up!" and the disc came flying through the air towards him once again.

"I've got it!" Heracles called out, rushing to catch the disc.

"No! Stop!"

It was too late, Heracles grabbed the disc, but the momentum sent him flying into one of the many pillars that surrounded the marketplace. Heracles fell to the ground, dazed, and watched in horror as the pillar began to wobble. Desperately he grabbed at it, holding it up so that it wouldn't fall. Unfortunately his movement made the pillar hit another pillar, which started a domino effect. Pillars came crashing down and people were running around screaming. Heracles tried to stop it, throwing away the pillar in his hands, but it crashed into another section and started a whole new area of destruction. Heracles ran, trying to stop it before anymore damage was caused, but it was too late. He could only watch as the market was completely destroyed. And at the very end was Ladon's pottery shop. Ladon shouted, holding onto a few of his vases and Heracles flinched when the building was crushed, pieces of pottery flying everywhere.

The noise of crashing pillars had stopped. In its place was the new sound of angry people, grumbling and stalking towards Heracles with furious looks on their faces. The boy who owned the disc came up and snatched it off the ground near Heracles's feet.

"Thanks a lot, Jerkcacles." He snorted and stalked off.

Berwald walked slowly over to Heracles, looking at the destruction with his passive face. On the inside Heracles knew he was freaking out.

"That is it Berwald!" Ladon stomped over to where Heracles and Berwald were standing, "This is the last straw!"

"That boy is a menace!" Someone else called out.

"He's cursed!" Another person shouted.

"I'm warning you, keep that freak away from here!" Ladon shouted. The crowd murmured in agreement. Heracles flinched and bowed his head, the painful feeling in his heart growing. Every word thrown at him hurt. It felt like everyone was closing in on him and for a moment it was difficult to breathe.

Heracles pushed his way out of the crowd and ran.

"Heracles!"

He ran as fast as he could, stumbling along the uneven dirt road.

"Heracles!"

Heracles ran away ignoring his father's shouts for him to return.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I didn't really find anything on the age for Hercules in the movie (just that he was a teenager when his life really began to change). In Hetalia Greece is 27 years old, and that didn't really work with the story timeline. So I just went ahead and took ten years off his life, haha.**

**Ladonia is a micronation in Hetalia. Accordingly he looks like a elementary school student but since he isn't well known let's just say he looks like an adult in this, okay? According to Hetalia Wiki he's located in Sweden, and looks down on Sealand as leader of the micronations, although in the end decides to join the group as a friend anways. **

**Legitimately in the movie some punks nickname Hercules Jerkcules so I decided that winning insult needed a place in this story.**

**Also I apologize for being late with this, school this year has me running around and I am exhausted. I'm doing a lot of reading and writing, just not for this. **

**[promptly plops down and falls asleep]**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all for the delightful reviews I am sorry I couldn't reply to all of them. **

**I also feel like I am constantly apologizing for not updating frequently. A lot happened this past semester and it looks like the next semester will also be crazy busy but I promise to update when I can.**

**This has not been beta read so sorry for any mistakes.**

**Ukraine (****Katyusha) = Hestia (goddess of the home and hearth)**

**Switzerland(Vash) = Trainer of heroes, or Phil as he is known in the movie**

_These are thoughts_

* * *

Soft, puffy clouds flouted by Heracles's line of vision. Soft shades of pink and blue were streaked across the sky, slightly discolored when the bright orange rays of the sun hit them. Heracles stared up at the unending sky, ignoring the linger twinges that remained in his heart.

_That boy is a menace!_

He rolled over and curled up, closing his eyes.

_Keep that freak away from here!_

Heracles groaned and sat up. He shook his head as if trying to shake off the shouts, but it didn't work. So many times before Heracles had heard insults hurled at him. This time was no different. His parents always said to just ignore it, that the townspeople were wrong.

But Heracles was beginning to believe that they were right. He was a freak. Over and over he tried to fit in but he just couldn't.

Did he really belong here? In the cottage with his parents near the forest? Or in the town?

Heracles frowned and looked down at the grass, brushing through it with his fingers. He certainly didn't feel like he belonged. Even when he was a kid there was always this nagging feeling that he was meant to be somewhere else. It just didn't make any sense. This was where his family was, where he had been raised. It wasn't like he had some great destiny waiting for him, Heracles was the son of a carpenter. Abandoned by his birth parents only to have luck smile upon him that one time when Tino and Berwald found him. They had never spoken much about him being placed in their home, only mentioning that they did not know the identity of his birth parents.

So Heracles was an unwanted child. A freak who didn't fit in. Someone who would never find a place to belong.

Heracles sighed and threw his arms over his eyes and murmured, "This sucks."

* * *

At home the fireplace created a soft glow of light that permeated the darkness. Tino and Berwald were still probably awake, waiting for Heracles to come back home. There was a bitter feeling of guilt welling up inside him when he realized the trouble he must have caused his parents today. Rapidly Heracles completed the steps that brought him home and opened up the door.

Tino was sitting in front of their small altar to the goddess Hestia, quietly cleaning up a few petals that had dropped from the flowers Heracles had placed on it that morning. Berwald had been pacing by the fireplace, but looked up when Heracles opened the door. Tino noted Berwald's footsteps halting and looked up, letting out a surprised cry and running towards Heracles with his arms wide open.

"Heracles!" Tino cried, wrapping him in a hug, "Berwald told me all about what happened! Are you okay? Those stupid townspeople, they're wrong! There's nothing wrong with you, you're perfect the way you are!" Tino babbled as he continued to crush Heracles in his embrace. Heracles allowed his head to drop on top of his father's, inhaling the comforting smell of freshly baked bread and firewood smoke that clung to Tino. (He had long ago passed Tino in height difference and was almost as tall as Berwald now)

"Sit down, let me get you something warm to drink. It's getting cold outside, soon it will be fall and I'm going to need you and Berwald to chop more firewood for me," Tino continued to talk as he pulled Heracles towards a chair. However Heracles noted a slight wavering tone in Tino's voice, and before he could question it Berwald put a comforting hand on Tino's shoulder. Tino stopped talking and looked down at the floor, his face crumpling slightly.

"Son, 'it d'wn," Berwald said.

Heracles sat.

"There's s'mthin me and y'er dad have been meanin' to speak to y'er about. Ya already know we arn't y'er birth parents. But we nev'r told y'er the complete story..." Berwald said.

They filled him in on the full events that had transpired that night. How they had found him at the base of the mountain, alone except for two snakes that had tried to kill him. Apparently he had always been very strong, even when he was just a newborn baby.

"And this was around your neck when we found you," Tino had gone out earlier and returned with a small package tied up in soft leather. When he unwrapped it, a large golden medallion glinted at Heracles. Impressed upon the gold was another round circle with little squiggles wrapped in strange shapes inside of it.

"What is it?" Heracles asked.

"We didn't know at first, but when Berwald mentioned it to one of the priests he said that it was the symbol of the gods."

Heracles took the medallion and turned it around in his hands. It wasn't cool like he had expected but warm to the touch.

"The symbol of the gods," Heracles mumbled.

"After today's incident we..." Tino took a deep breath, "we think that maybe you should go to Alfred's temple to speak with them about your gift."

"We'r w'rried ab't you son. We don't want ya to feel like yer al'ne fer the rest of yer life," Berwald said.

"But I'm not alone, I have both of you."

"We won't be here forever Heracles, and you need other people besides your parents to be with you," Tino said, trying to sound slightly upbeat. But his voice cracked at the end and Tino tried to blink back tears.

"Alfred's temple is a long way off though. I don't know if I feel like walking that entire distance," Heracles joked.

"It isn't that far," Tino smiled, "but we'll make sure you have enough supplies to take with you before you leave."

After that his parents had bustled around the house, trying to talk of meaningless things as they gathered up supplies for Heracles's journey. But a heavy mood weighed over the house that night, and when Heracles left in the morning he tried not to feel guilty at the sad expressions in his parents faces. But it was almost with a odd sense of relief that he began his journey to Alfred's temple.

* * *

"I KNOW EVERY MILE WILL BE WORTH MY WHILE~ I WOULD GO MOST ANYWHERE TO FIND WHERE I BELLOOOONNGGG!" Feliks and Antonio bellowed out together.

"What the fuck was that you morons?" Lovino gritted his teeth and stuffed his fingers in his ears attempting to drown out the noise.

"Well this is, like a musical right? I WOULD, LIKE, GO THE DISTANCE!"

"We should be singing Lovi!" Antonio smiled.

"Who said it was a musical?" Yao grumbled. He was slowly scooting back a few feet, trying to put distance between him and the other two loud Muses.

"Eh? Do we not get to sing?" Antonio's smile dropped.

"No, you idiot!"

"But what about our big musical number that happens with Kiku? I was looking forward to that!"

"No musical numbers!" Lovino shouted. Antonio and Feliks immediately started sulking, while Toris looked slightly relieved. Yao on the other hand looked like his was quietly pondering.

"I don't know, aru. Our ratings might go up if we did sing a quick song..." He said slowly. Lovino gaped at him.

"Surely you can't be serious!"

"This story is to serious! We, like, need to lighten it up a bit! I'm bored!" Feliks groaned.

"Excuse fucking you, I don't remember the story of Heracles exactly being a happy one!" Lovino snapped.

"Wait, I thought we were telling the family friendly version, not the other one!" Toris looked frantically at everyone. "I don't like how the other one ends!"

"Family friendly!" Feliks insisted.

"No, we're going to do the other one!"

"Family friendly!"

"Other one!"

"FAMILY FRIENDLY!"

"OTHER ONE!"

"Both of you shut up! We'll decide which one we're doing at the end, aru!"

Noisy grumbling filled the area at Yao's words but nobody disagreed.

* * *

_Stupid weather. Stupid rain. Stupid Alfred's temple being millions of paces away. _

Heracles tried not to be disrespectful to the gods in his thoughts but it was difficult. He had been walking for about four days, taking a ride with anyone kind enough to give him a lift for free. Alfred wasn't the primary god of his hometown, and even though there were small shrines dedicated to the king of the gods scattered around (as to not disrespect Alfred) both Heracles and his parents had agreed going to the larger one would be the best idea. Heracles hoped Alfred would be slightly more benevolent to Heracles's requests since he had made such a long journey to get there.

Unfortunately the weather had been pretty bad since the second day Heracles had left home. Scattered rain showers had plagued him all along the way, making Heracles slightly worried that the gods were displeased with him in some way.

He knew he was getting closer though and that gave Heracles the strength to carry on even though night had fallen. A sign a couple paces back had signaled that he was almost there. All Heracles had to do now was climb to the top of the largest hill he had ever seen.

Heracles let out an aggrieved sigh and started his climb.

It took him almost an hour to reach the top, but it had been worth the climb. While marble was not his forte, being the son of a carpenter had given Heracles an appreciation for architecture, or at least the work that went into it. Huge marble columns reached towards the sky, holding up the glimmering roof of the temple. A large archway led him into the main room of worship, letting moonlight spill into the temple. The floor he walked on was a mosaic of tiny polished stones that were designed in swirling patterns with small thunderbolt shapes worked in to represent Alfred's primary symbol of power. Heracles slowly walked in, taking in everything. At the end of the long room was a looming statue of Alfred sitting on a throne. The face of the god was serious and stern, making Heracles slightly nervous.

Heracles knelt, holding his medallion in his hands as he prayed aloud, "Oh mighty Alfred, please hear my prayers. I need to know...just who am I? Where do I belong?"

Heracles wasn't exactly sure if he needed to add anything after that or do anything else. His mind wasn't exactly on talking to the god at the moment, the floor was cold and his knees were already starting to hurt after kneeling on it for only one minute.

_How do the priests do this for hours? _Heracles thought, _and, um, when exactly am I going to receive an answer? Will a thunderbolt suddenly come down and write something on the ground?_

Heracles meant that to be a joke but was badly startled when a thunderbolt suddenly zoomed into the room, hitting the statue dead on. He jerked and frantically began to crawl away backwards as the torches on either side of the statue spontaneously lit. Heracles's eyes shut at the sudden light, but he opened them quickly and was further shocked to see the statue was moving.

The statue was moving.

THE STATUE WAS MOVING...AND NOW IT WAS TALKING.

"Heracles! Hey kiddo!"

Heracles couldn't help but shout as two giant hands reached down and picked him up. He attempted to get out, realizing that it was possible the statue was trying to kill him but the hands clamped down and held him tight.

"Hey now, that isn't any way to greet your daddy-o!" The statue shouted.

_What?_

"What?" Heracles managed to say.

"Heh, bet you didn't know that you had a hero for a father now did you! It's me, Alfred the hero!" The statue, or rather the king of the gods Alfred, boomed. "Surprise!"

"Um," Heracles stammered.

"Look at you though! Look how you've grown! You've got Artie's eyes, and my eyebrows! Lucky you, you would not have wanted those caterpillars," Alfred smiled down at Heracles.

"Uh...I don't quite understand," Heracles said.

"Well I thought your mortal parents would have given you this talk by now, but when a man and woman love each other very much, or in our case two men who are gods because mortal men don't have the ability to give birth. I told Artie it would be funny if we gifted that upon them but nooooo, he said it was too late in humanity's evolution and would just mess things up. He's no fun really but I love him anyways...um, where was I going with this again...oh, yes! Two people, man and woman in the case of humans-"

"No! Wait, it isn't that," Heracles was now really confused and also slightly embarrassed, "I mean, you are my real father?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yup! I am your father and Artie is technically your mommy. He gave birth to you and all."

"So that makes me a-"

"A god! Yes it does! Kind of...but hey, you asked for answers and there you go! You're old enough now to know!" Alfred smiled.

Heracles stopped for a moment to take it in. He was a god. The child of the king and queen of the gods. That was...a lot to take in. "But then why did you leave me?" Heracles asked quietly. Had he really been unwanted in the end?

As if he had read Heracles's thoughts Alfred's smile dimmed and a soft and sad expression took over his face. "We didn't leave you. We would have never left you. Me and Artie loved you Heracles with all our hearts. But someone stole you from us and made you mortal, kind of, and only gods can live on Mount Olympus."

"Kind of?" Heracles asked, confused.

"Well, as you've figured out there is some power left in you."

"My super strength," Heracles whispered.

"Yes, which I have seen that you consider to be a curse. But Heracles, it's actually super amazing! That means you can still come home! If you harness that power and become a hero your full godness will be restored and you can come back to us!" Alfred's beaming smiled was back.

"How does that work?"

"I'm not quite sure. Artie explained it further to me before I came to talk to you but all I heard was blah blah blah hero blah blah become a god again blah," Alfred said.

"Ok...but then how do I become a hero?"

Alfred suddenly dumped Heracles into just one of his hands and used the other to shuffled around in his robes, "Now where did I put it? Artie wrote a list but where-ah! Here it is!" Alfred pulled out a scrap of paper that looked tiny in his huge hands. "Now let's see, first you must go see Vash, the trainer of heroes. Um, just a warning he's a little...crazy, but he's good!"

"This sounds like a lot of work. Isn't there just something you can do to bring back my full godhood?" Heracles asked. Alfred shook his head and Heracles sighed, slumping slightly before straightening back up, "Alright so find Vash, got it."

"Yup! Oh, and I should probably also," Alfred stopped talking and let out a shrill whistle. Heracles winced and placed his hands over his ears at the loud sound, missing the other noise that answered Alfred's whistle. From the sky what looked like a falling star came towards them, but when it came closer Heracles saw it wasn't a star, but instead a- "Cat with wings?" Heracles said.

"You probably don't remember Corporal Cat, but you two go way back!" Alfred laughed. Corporal Cat landed near Heracles, and approached him excitedly. Heracles had never seen a cat that large before, it was almost as tall as Heracles; he could probably ride on Corporal Cat's back. Corporal Cat happily butted heads with Heracles. Heracles smiled and raised his hand to scratch behind the cat's ears, and a loud purring noise filled the air.

"Hello there Corporal Cat," Heracles said.

"So there you go! I have given you everything you need to start your journey! Good luck Heracles!" Alfred said. Heracles got onto Corporal Cat's back, and the cat flew up into the air ready to leave.

"Thank you," Heracles hesitated for a moment before saying, "father." Alfred's beaming smile showed that he had said the right thing.

"Goodbye, son," He waved his hand, creating a blast of air that forced Heracles and Corporal Cat outside, "Oops! Sorry about that!" he called. Heracles waved back, and then was gone.

Alfred settled back down into his chair, preparing to leave the statue and head back to Mount Olympus. Except there was something niggling at his mind, "Was there something else I was supposed to tell him? Hmmm, nah," he shrugged and zapped himself back home, leaving the once serious and stern face of the statue smiling with one of its hands cupping the side of its face.

The scrap of paper he had been given fluttered to the ground, only two reminders on its surface. The first read 'Heracles must go to Vash' which Alfred had made sure to tell his son. The second, which Alfred had forgotten said 'And whatever you do git don't forget to tell him to stay away from Sadiq. Feliciano said he's been acting strangely these past couple years and I don't want our son near that weirdo.'

The forgotten piece of paper laid there until morning when it was swept up by the priests of the temple (after they freaked out about the statue's change in facial expression) its warning forgotten.

* * *

**Katyusha/Ukraine was intended to be someone else but after I found out many Greek homes had an altar to the goddess Hestia in their homes I struggled to find someone who would fit. Hestia was a child of Rhea and Kronos, and thus eaten by Kronos and saved by Zeus. She rejected the advances of Apollo and Poseidon and takes a vow of virginity. As the hearth was looked upon as a sacred part of domestic life, Hestia was believed to dwell in the inner heart of every home. In my research she didn't appear to have any spats with humans or other gods, so Hestia seems to be a relatively peaceful and kind goddess. Plus the image of a warm hearth and home gives to me the idea of a kind person so I placed Katyusha, described as warm hearted and motherly, in the position of Hestia.**

**The versions Feliks and Lovino are arguing over are the original Hercules story and the Disney Hercules story. Obviously the original is much darker and much more sad. They're very different tales but for the fun of it let's just say anything can happen at the end and I'm not telling which ending will be the one I use. ****As if you don't know already.**

**Being Hermes, Feliciano also has the duty of ferrying dead souls down to the start of the Underworld. This is a slight tip of the hat to Dark!Feliciano that the fandom enjoys. Feli is sweet and generally easy going but he has seen some dark things in the small part of the Underworld he enters. This makes him slightly more sympathetic to Sadiq, which probably won't appear in this story but is more of a behind the scenes thing. Hermes honestly probably didn't meet and talk to Hades in Greek lore but for this story let's just say on occasion Sadiq will come out and talk to Feli.**

**So please tell me what you think. I'm a bit worried about Heracles's character, he's difficult for me to write and this is a story where he needs to be proactive and Greece in Hetalia isn't exactly...active, at all. I'm worried that I'm writing the character of Hercules more than the character Heracles. **


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